Reading is an important and sometimes difficult skill for children to master, and numerous devices and techniques have been developed to assist children in learning to read. One common method of helping a child learn to read is by reading aloud to the child from a storybook, often while the child attempts to read the same words at the same time. This can be done using storybooks in hardcopy form, in which case an adult may read the storybook aloud to the child, and it can also be done in an online context, in which case a computer generated voice may “read” the storybook to the child. The online context has the advantage that no adult need be available, which may increase the child's opportunities to learn to read.
On the other hand, due to a lack of human interaction, it may in some cases be difficult to maintain a child's interest in and attention to reading activities in an online context. More specifically, simply placing traditional text and images online may be insufficient to hold the child's attention, and the child may turn to a less educational online activity. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an online reading system that has features designed to maintain a child's interest, and which still retains its educational value by helping the child to learn how to read.
Disclosures of online reading systems are found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. U.S. 2002/0024534 A1, and at internet sites www.storyplus.com and www.nickjr.com. Disclosures of customizable electronic text are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,114,291 and 5,761,681. The disclosures of each of these documents are incorporated herein by reference. The advantages of the electronic reading system provided will be understood more readily after a consideration of the Drawings and the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.